Welcome to the United Nations 
OHCHR 
Press releases Treaty bodies
Default title
16 May 2000
Share
CRC
24th Session
16 May 2000
Morning
Government Delegation Questioned on Reservation Related
to Islamic Law and on Coordination of Activities for Children
A seventeen-member Government delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran presented an initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning, fielding questions from Committee members, among other things, on the effect of Sharia, or Islamic law, on children, especially in cases of conflict between Islamic law and the standards of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Committee is charged with monitoring.
Committee members noted that Iran had approved the Convention with a reservation that Islamic law took precedence in cases of conflict with the Convention. They described the reservation as "large" and "vague", and asked about its effects on the everyday lives of children. They also remarked that while numerous Government departments and agencies were involved in the promotion and protection of child rights, none seemed to have prime responsibility or to deal exclusively with children's issues. They asked how such activities were coordinated overall.
Introducing the report, Ali Khorram, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said, among other things, that more than 20 per cent of the national budget was allocated to providing necessary services to children; that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been approved by the Iranian Consultative Assembly in 1994, was applicable under Iranian internal law and could be invoked in the courts; and that special emphasis had been placed on increasing school attendance among girls, resulting in an increase in their primary school enrollment from 86.3 per cent in 1990 to 94.5 per cent in 1998. He said that extensive narcotic-drugs trafficking from Afghanistan had created problems for Iran and Iranian children and that the Government was taking major steps to combat drug smuggling.
Ambassador Khorram said the Committee should not have a negative impression of Iran's reservation to the Convention -- that the practice of Iran and other Islamic countries often was to approve international human-rights treaties as quickly as possible, with reservations where necessary, and then to ponder more slowly those issues where culture or tradition led to reservations. He said a Government working group had been studying whether Iran's reservation was necessary, and to date had found no cases of conflict between Islamic law and Convention standards.
In addition to Mr. Khorram, the Iranian delegation included Sabah Zangeneh, Special Advisor for International Relations to the Head of the Judiciary; Mohammad-Taghi Cheraghchi-Bashi, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Health, Cure, and Medical Education; Kazem Rasoulzadeh Tabatabaie, Director-General for Social Harms of the State Welfare Organization; Meimanat Choubak, Lawyer and former Assistant to the Attorney-General; Parvaneh Azhi-Kouhestani, Director for Health and Cure Affairs of the Budget and Planning Organization; Nasrin Mosaffa, Professor at Tehran University and Head of the Center for International Studies at the University; Davoud Mir-Mohammadi, Deputy Director for Social Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior; Ahmad Ghods, Deputy Director General of the Department of Regulation and Monitoring of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; Javad Amin-Mansour, Hossein Lotfi, Farhad Mamdouhi, and Ali-Reza Ghanavi, Counsellors at the Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mohsen Baharvand, Second Secretary of the Mission; Amir-Hossein Hosseini, Political Officer, Department of International Social Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Reza Zakat Roshandel, Educational Expert of the Ministry of Education and Training; and Zohred Sardashti, non-governmental organization (NGO) representative of the Foundation of Vali-e-Asr for Disabled People.
Iran, as one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, must report periodically to the Committee on the status of the country's children and on Government efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its review of the report of Iran and to provide preliminary responses to the report. Formal conclusions and recommendations will be issued towards the end of the Committee's three-week session on 2 June.
Report of Iran
The initial report of Iran (CRC/C/41/Add.5) reviews compliance with the Convention on an article-by-article basis, with chapters on implementation, general principles, civil rights and liberties, family environment and alternative care, health and basic welfare, education, leisure, recreation and cultural activities, and special protective measures. The document notes, among other things, that a child is defined as "a male or female offspring that has not attained maturity. Maturity is a natural and instinctive matter". Minimum age of non-agricultural employment is 15; minimum age for military service is 19; and minimum age for voting in elections is 16. According to the report, infant mortality, under-five mortality and rates of maternal death have declined in recent years, along with deaths from such diseases as diarrhoea and respiratory infections. More than 50 per cent of the Iranian population is under age 18.
The report remarks that articles 12 and 13 of the Iranian Constitution, while recognizing Islam as the State religion, also states that Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are recognized religious minorities who are free within the jurisdiction of the law to perform their religious services, and may act according to their religious laws as far as their personal status and religious teachings are concerned.
Introduction of report
ALI KHORRAM, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Government was paying special attention to the well-being of children and held the view that children's rights should be a priority of Government activities -- that more than 20 per cent of the national budget was allocated to providing necessary services to children. Oil prices, which had fallen periodically in recent years, had had a negative impact on the Iranian budget, yet even during harsh economic circumstances, budgetary allocations for children had not been cut.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been approved by the Iranian Consultative Assembly in 1994, was applicable under Iranian internal law and could be invoked in the courts, Mr. Khorram said; there were several national mechanisms for monitoring implementation of the Convention; progress had been made in improving education rates and child health; and UNICEF, in its report "Country Programme of Cooperation 2000 - 2004", had acknowledged that Iran had achieved most of the World Summit for Children's goals for the year 2000. Special emphasis had been placed on increasing school attendance among girls, and the rate of their enrollment had increased from 86.3 per cent in 1990 to 94.5 per cent in 1998. Minorities were free to establish schools using their own languages and religious text books, Mr. Khorram said.
Because Iran was on the route of narcotics smuggling from Afghanistan, the country had suffered disastrous consequences, the Ambassador said. The matter posed a serious threat to children and Iran was sparing no effort in fighting smuggling; the Government believed practical international responses to such criminal activities were necessary.
Discussion
Discussion focused on the topics of implementation of the Convention, general principles, and civil rights and liberties. On occasion, reference was made to a series of written answers provided to questions the Committee had posed to the Iranian Government in advance.
Committee members asked, among other things, about the reservation of the Government of Iran to the Convention where the Convention ran contrary to Islamic law, and if specific examples could be given where the Convention might be in conflict with Islamic law; if Islamic law had evolved over the years to reflect changes in the situation of the children; if the Government had considered withdrawing its reservation; how the reservation affected the everyday life of children; how effectively children could file complaints alleging violations of their rights; how organizations and Government departments and NGOs coordinated their work on behalf of children; what kind of "gender gap" might exist between girls and boys in such matters as health and recreation; what was the age of criminal responsibility; if a particular Government agency or department might be created that had prime responsibility for children's rights; if the Convention was taught in the schools; about different ages for girls and boys related to criminal responsibility and marriage, and if efforts were being made to harmonize them; if the Islamic Commission on Human Rights had the power to make binding decisions, including on compensation for victims of violations of human rights; how many children were born out of wedlock and if such children faced discrimination; and if, as appeared, there was a wide difference in the age of criminal responsibility between girls, who were judged to be "mature" when they were slightly less than 9 years of age, and boys, who were determined to be mature when they were just under 15 years of age.
It also was asked if, as appeared, there was no penalty under Iranian law for those who raped children; and if, as appeared, fathers who killed their children were not necessarily subject to punishment, while for mothers who did so the punishment was death.
Mr. Khorram said, among other things, that Iran's reservation to the Convention seemed to have created a "negative notion" among Committee members, but they should not feel that way. The Convention had been approved in 1994, and it took a while for the country and its culture to get used to it. It had seemed important to adopt the Convention and then study subsequently the matters that were of concern regarding Islamic law. A working group had been set up to look into the reservation and whether it was necessary. Meanwhile, Islamic countries often discussed international human-rights treaties with each other; more time was needed to arrive at final views on such issues. That did not mean that Islamic countries were against international human-rights standards; it was simply a way of proceeding and finalizing views. The reservation did not amount to a "negative assessment" of the Convention, and to date the working group had found no conflicts between the standards of the Convention and Islamic or domes
tic law.
He and other members of the delegation went on to say, among other things, that children could retain legal representation and file complaints of violations of their rights before the courts and that court-appointed public defenders would be provided if a child's family could not afford a lawyer; that budget allocations for social and welfare matters amounted to almost 50 per cent of the overall national budget; that workshops were being planned for education of Government and other officials on child rights; that NGOs were free and active in the country, including on behalf of child rights; that it was understood that data collection on matters related to children was insufficient and that more had to be done to improve statistics on child rights; and that there was a hotline for children to use to complain about violations of their rights.
The Office of the President was the focal point of all Governmental organizations dealing with children, the delegation said, and it carried out coordination of such activities. Meanwhile, the relevant organizations individually collected child-related data in their areas of expertise and submitted the data for everyone's overall information.
The Islamic Commission on Human Rights had a wide-ranging and powerful mandate, the delegation said; human-rights NGOs, meanwhile, had their own areas of focus, collected their own information, frequently criticized the Government, including in the media, and often advocated on behalf of the rights of children.
If, traditionally, there had been gaps in the treatment of boys and girls, the Iranian Government had tried to reduce them, the delegation said. For example, in rural areas, there was often a wish that girls should stay at home; but in Iran, education was compulsory; primary and high school were compulsory for all Iranian children, and so girls were required to receive education. At universities, there was a reverse gap at this point -- there were more women attending university than men.
Children were not held criminally responsible for their acts, the delegation said; after maturity, they could be criminally responsible; children were tried in special courts for children, which had appropriate provisions for psychologists, legal representation, and sentencing based on what was suitable for the ages of those concerned.
* *** *
24th Session
16 May 2000
Morning
Government Delegation Questioned on Reservation Related
to Islamic Law and on Coordination of Activities for Children
A seventeen-member Government delegation from the Islamic Republic of Iran presented an initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child this morning, fielding questions from Committee members, among other things, on the effect of Sharia, or Islamic law, on children, especially in cases of conflict between Islamic law and the standards of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which the Committee is charged with monitoring.
Committee members noted that Iran had approved the Convention with a reservation that Islamic law took precedence in cases of conflict with the Convention. They described the reservation as "large" and "vague", and asked about its effects on the everyday lives of children. They also remarked that while numerous Government departments and agencies were involved in the promotion and protection of child rights, none seemed to have prime responsibility or to deal exclusively with children's issues. They asked how such activities were coordinated overall.
Introducing the report, Ali Khorram, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said, among other things, that more than 20 per cent of the national budget was allocated to providing necessary services to children; that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been approved by the Iranian Consultative Assembly in 1994, was applicable under Iranian internal law and could be invoked in the courts; and that special emphasis had been placed on increasing school attendance among girls, resulting in an increase in their primary school enrollment from 86.3 per cent in 1990 to 94.5 per cent in 1998. He said that extensive narcotic-drugs trafficking from Afghanistan had created problems for Iran and Iranian children and that the Government was taking major steps to combat drug smuggling.
Ambassador Khorram said the Committee should not have a negative impression of Iran's reservation to the Convention -- that the practice of Iran and other Islamic countries often was to approve international human-rights treaties as quickly as possible, with reservations where necessary, and then to ponder more slowly those issues where culture or tradition led to reservations. He said a Government working group had been studying whether Iran's reservation was necessary, and to date had found no cases of conflict between Islamic law and Convention standards.
In addition to Mr. Khorram, the Iranian delegation included Sabah Zangeneh, Special Advisor for International Relations to the Head of the Judiciary; Mohammad-Taghi Cheraghchi-Bashi, Advisor to the Deputy Minister of Health, Cure, and Medical Education; Kazem Rasoulzadeh Tabatabaie, Director-General for Social Harms of the State Welfare Organization; Meimanat Choubak, Lawyer and former Assistant to the Attorney-General; Parvaneh Azhi-Kouhestani, Director for Health and Cure Affairs of the Budget and Planning Organization; Nasrin Mosaffa, Professor at Tehran University and Head of the Center for International Studies at the University; Davoud Mir-Mohammadi, Deputy Director for Social Affairs of the Ministry of the Interior; Ahmad Ghods, Deputy Director General of the Department of Regulation and Monitoring of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security; Javad Amin-Mansour, Hossein Lotfi, Farhad Mamdouhi, and Ali-Reza Ghanavi, Counsellors at the Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Mohsen Baharvand, Second Secretary of the Mission; Amir-Hossein Hosseini, Political Officer, Department of International Social Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Reza Zakat Roshandel, Educational Expert of the Ministry of Education and Training; and Zohred Sardashti, non-governmental organization (NGO) representative of the Foundation of Vali-e-Asr for Disabled People.
Iran, as one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, must report periodically to the Committee on the status of the country's children and on Government efforts to implement the provisions of the Convention.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue its review of the report of Iran and to provide preliminary responses to the report. Formal conclusions and recommendations will be issued towards the end of the Committee's three-week session on 2 June.
Report of Iran
The initial report of Iran (CRC/C/41/Add.5) reviews compliance with the Convention on an article-by-article basis, with chapters on implementation, general principles, civil rights and liberties, family environment and alternative care, health and basic welfare, education, leisure, recreation and cultural activities, and special protective measures. The document notes, among other things, that a child is defined as "a male or female offspring that has not attained maturity. Maturity is a natural and instinctive matter". Minimum age of non-agricultural employment is 15; minimum age for military service is 19; and minimum age for voting in elections is 16. According to the report, infant mortality, under-five mortality and rates of maternal death have declined in recent years, along with deaths from such diseases as diarrhoea and respiratory infections. More than 50 per cent of the Iranian population is under age 18.
The report remarks that articles 12 and 13 of the Iranian Constitution, while recognizing Islam as the State religion, also states that Zoroastrian, Jewish, and Christian Iranians are recognized religious minorities who are free within the jurisdiction of the law to perform their religious services, and may act according to their religious laws as far as their personal status and religious teachings are concerned.
Introduction of report
ALI KHORRAM, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Government was paying special attention to the well-being of children and held the view that children's rights should be a priority of Government activities -- that more than 20 per cent of the national budget was allocated to providing necessary services to children. Oil prices, which had fallen periodically in recent years, had had a negative impact on the Iranian budget, yet even during harsh economic circumstances, budgetary allocations for children had not been cut.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been approved by the Iranian Consultative Assembly in 1994, was applicable under Iranian internal law and could be invoked in the courts, Mr. Khorram said; there were several national mechanisms for monitoring implementation of the Convention; progress had been made in improving education rates and child health; and UNICEF, in its report "Country Programme of Cooperation 2000 - 2004", had acknowledged that Iran had achieved most of the World Summit for Children's goals for the year 2000. Special emphasis had been placed on increasing school attendance among girls, and the rate of their enrollment had increased from 86.3 per cent in 1990 to 94.5 per cent in 1998. Minorities were free to establish schools using their own languages and religious text books, Mr. Khorram said.
Because Iran was on the route of narcotics smuggling from Afghanistan, the country had suffered disastrous consequences, the Ambassador said. The matter posed a serious threat to children and Iran was sparing no effort in fighting smuggling; the Government believed practical international responses to such criminal activities were necessary.
Discussion
Discussion focused on the topics of implementation of the Convention, general principles, and civil rights and liberties. On occasion, reference was made to a series of written answers provided to questions the Committee had posed to the Iranian Government in advance.
Committee members asked, among other things, about the reservation of the Government of Iran to the Convention where the Convention ran contrary to Islamic law, and if specific examples could be given where the Convention might be in conflict with Islamic law; if Islamic law had evolved over the years to reflect changes in the situation of the children; if the Government had considered withdrawing its reservation; how the reservation affected the everyday life of children; how effectively children could file complaints alleging violations of their rights; how organizations and Government departments and NGOs coordinated their work on behalf of children; what kind of "gender gap" might exist between girls and boys in such matters as health and recreation; what was the age of criminal responsibility; if a particular Government agency or department might be created that had prime responsibility for children's rights; if the Convention was taught in the schools; about different ages for girls and boys related to criminal responsibility and marriage, and if efforts were being made to harmonize them; if the Islamic Commission on Human Rights had the power to make binding decisions, including on compensation for victims of violations of human rights; how many children were born out of wedlock and if such children faced discrimination; and if, as appeared, there was a wide difference in the age of criminal responsibility between girls, who were judged to be "mature" when they were slightly less than 9 years of age, and boys, who were determined to be mature when they were just under 15 years of age.
It also was asked if, as appeared, there was no penalty under Iranian law for those who raped children; and if, as appeared, fathers who killed their children were not necessarily subject to punishment, while for mothers who did so the punishment was death.
Mr. Khorram said, among other things, that Iran's reservation to the Convention seemed to have created a "negative notion" among Committee members, but they should not feel that way. The Convention had been approved in 1994, and it took a while for the country and its culture to get used to it. It had seemed important to adopt the Convention and then study subsequently the matters that were of concern regarding Islamic law. A working group had been set up to look into the reservation and whether it was necessary. Meanwhile, Islamic countries often discussed international human-rights treaties with each other; more time was needed to arrive at final views on such issues. That did not mean that Islamic countries were against international human-rights standards; it was simply a way of proceeding and finalizing views. The reservation did not amount to a "negative assessment" of the Convention, and to date the working group had found no conflicts between the standards of the Convention and Islamic or domes
tic law.
He and other members of the delegation went on to say, among other things, that children could retain legal representation and file complaints of violations of their rights before the courts and that court-appointed public defenders would be provided if a child's family could not afford a lawyer; that budget allocations for social and welfare matters amounted to almost 50 per cent of the overall national budget; that workshops were being planned for education of Government and other officials on child rights; that NGOs were free and active in the country, including on behalf of child rights; that it was understood that data collection on matters related to children was insufficient and that more had to be done to improve statistics on child rights; and that there was a hotline for children to use to complain about violations of their rights.
The Office of the President was the focal point of all Governmental organizations dealing with children, the delegation said, and it carried out coordination of such activities. Meanwhile, the relevant organizations individually collected child-related data in their areas of expertise and submitted the data for everyone's overall information.
The Islamic Commission on Human Rights had a wide-ranging and powerful mandate, the delegation said; human-rights NGOs, meanwhile, had their own areas of focus, collected their own information, frequently criticized the Government, including in the media, and often advocated on behalf of the rights of children.
If, traditionally, there had been gaps in the treatment of boys and girls, the Iranian Government had tried to reduce them, the delegation said. For example, in rural areas, there was often a wish that girls should stay at home; but in Iran, education was compulsory; primary and high school were compulsory for all Iranian children, and so girls were required to receive education. At universities, there was a reverse gap at this point -- there were more women attending university than men.
Children were not held criminally responsible for their acts, the delegation said; after maturity, they could be criminally responsible; children were tried in special courts for children, which had appropriate provisions for psychologists, legal representation, and sentencing based on what was suitable for the ages of those concerned.
* *** *